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Germanwings: One pilot 'locked out' of cockpit before crash

“You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”

Spain France Plane Crash AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

ONE OF THE pilots of the Airbus A320 which crashed in the French Alps killing all 150 people on board, was locked out of the cockpit, according to reports last night.

Initial analysis of audio taken from the cockpit recorder reportedly indicates that one of the two Germanwings pilots left the cockpit but was unable to return.

The New York Times quotes an unnamed “senior military official involved in the investigation” as saying:

You can hear the guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer. And then he hits the door stronger and no answer.
There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.
We don’t know yet the reason why one of the guys went out. But what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door.

photo.cvr.3 The cockpit voice recorder recovered from the Germanwings Airbus A320 BEA BEA

Earlier on Wednesday, investigators said they had extracted some “usable data” from the first black box, which contains audio recordings of technical sounds and conversation within the cockpit.

Head of the French air crash investigation agency BEA Remi Jouty cautioned:

At this stage, clearly, we are not in a position to have the slightest explanation or interpretation on the reasons that could have led this plane to descend… or the reasons why it did not respond to attempts to contact it by air traffic controllers.

Investigators are still attempting to locate and recover the second “black box”, which contains technical flight data.

Calls by TheJournal.ie to the BEA and France’s Interior Ministry were not returned last night, and a spokesperson for the BEA earlier declined to comment when questioned by the New York Times.

Originally published 0.06am

Read: Some data recovered – but as yet we don’t have “the slightest explanation” for the crash>

Read: Scale of horror emerges as questions remain over Alps plane crash>

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    Mute Liz Giltinane
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 2:32 PM

    Bill Gates does amazing work for the third world, so not a bad person to see topping the list.

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    Mute Julian King
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 4:10 PM

    I’m sure he could be doing more if he’s got 59 billion in his account.

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    Mute Chris lynch
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 4:31 PM

    @Julian – he is givening most of it away to Charities in his will.

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    Mute Paul Murphy
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 1:55 PM

    I’m pretty sure theres a couple of electricians working for the ESB that should be on the list…

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    Mute John
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 1:38 PM

    But are they happy….?

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    Mute Chris lynch
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 1:56 PM

    ya

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    Mute Mike Reid
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 1:57 PM

    Bill looks happy :)

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    Mute Wujashtop
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 4:11 PM

    I’ve met David Koch many times… Nice guy and yes he’s happy.

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    Mute Simon Finglas
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 6:07 PM

    No, but they can cry in their $200m yacht!

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    Mute Angels Spain
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 1:36 PM

    Hmm that can’t be right! Where is the president of Ireland on that list ?????????

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    Mute Thomas Mc Carthy
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 11:21 PM

    You know what is sickening those five people have more than 250 billion of the worlds resources. How many lives could they save, how could they make the world a better place if they gave even half of it away. Everything that’s wrong with the world is manifested in that list, pure greed.

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    Mute Simon Power
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 6:22 PM

    Warren Buffett is also heavily involved in the Gates Foundation and has allowed his name to be put on Obama’s new tax measures that intend to close tax loop holes for the mega wealthy. It will never pass gestation but it has good intentions.

    Lest we also forget that Gates was a ruthless cut throat towards his competitors even by American standards. I guess he wants to repent or polish his legacy or both.

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    Mute Julian King
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 4:56 PM

    No time like the present, why doesn’t he donate ten or twenty billion now, I’m sure he’ll survive.

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    Mute Thomas Mc Carthy
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 11:22 PM

    You the man

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    Mute Aydo
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 2:04 PM

    In all seriousness, who cares?

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    Mute Chris lynch
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 3:44 PM

    You seem you care – you didn’t have to click the link to the story if you didn’t care

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    Mute ponythegringo
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    Sep 23rd 2011, 2:24 AM

    I can’t believe David Hasselhof didn’t make it into the top ten…?

    He must be drinking more than I thought.

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    Mute Jonathan Hayes
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    Sep 22nd 2011, 6:19 PM

    David Koch only has $25? I might have more!

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